294 Report on the Dah y- Farming of the North-west of France. 
arable districts, takes the place of permanent grass. M. Tetard 
keeps about 60 cows, sometimes more and sometimes fewer ; 
he buys them in Normandy through the medium of commission 
agents, arfd aims to get them about three or four weeks after 
they have calved, selling them at the best price he can get 
when they begin to run dry. The loss on the cows which this 
system entails is not so great as would at first sight appear, in 
consequence of the number of sugar-makers and distillers, who 
want cattle of some kind or other to consume the beetroot-pulp, 
and other residue of their factories. The cows are fed on hay 
and straw, mixed with beetroot-pulp, and bran is added as an 
auxiliary. 
The distinctive feature of the system lies in the distribution 
of the milk to the consumer. The milk as it comes from the 
cow having been cooled to about 55°, by immersing the cans 
containing it in a bath of cold water, fed by means of an arte- 
sian well, it is transferred to small vessels of tin or porcelain, 
containing either one litre or half a litre each. These vessels 
are immediately sealed by means of a piece of lead passed 
through a staple, in front of a hasp ; the lead being then pressed 
flat by a pair of pincers carrying the seal of the dairy, the 
little vessel cannot be opened without destroying this impres- 
sion. Purchasers thus have the security of receiving the milk 
as it leaves the dairy ; and it appears that in Paris they are 
quite willing to pay for this guarantee of quality, the prices of 
some of the leading dairies being 70 centimes per litre, or 40 
to 50 centimes the half-litre, delivered to the house.* Some 
dairies charge a little less for the milk delivered in tin vessels 
than for that sent in porcelain, and others again charge a little 
higher price to occasional purchasers, the tariff quoted being for 
regular subscribers. The empty vessel is given up when another 
full one is delivered. 
The careful cleansing of such a large number of vessels as 
this system must necessarily entail is a most important element in 
its success, and one the cost of which must be reckoned as paid 
for in the high price received for the milk. M. Tetard employs 
for this purpose a machine which is simply a series of rotating 
brushes of various sizes, according to the size of the vessel for 
which it will be used. This machine is made by M. Rouffet, aine, 
Rue St. Ambroise, Popincourt, Paris, and nothing can be more 
simple thnn its construction. On one side of a vertical plate is a 
series of cog-wheels, all or any of which can be put in or out of 
* A litre beinj? a ])int and Ihreo-quai ters, this price amounts to nearly 8fZ. per 
(juiirt, 01- more tliun lialf'-u-ciowii jier gallon. This is 50 per cent, above the pYico 
of iiiilk to tiie Wcst-Enil consumer. 
